​Air Force colonel in Colorado charged with rape, assault

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Military prosecutors have charged an Air Force colonel in Colorado with rape, assault and adultery, according to court documents released Thursday.

Col. Eugene Caughey, currently assigned to Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, was charged with misconduct dating back to 2013.

Caughey is accused of raping a woman at Schriever Air Force Base, also in Colorado, in late 2014 or early 2015 while "holding her against the wall and floor using physical strength or violence," the documents state.

Prosecutors also said the 23-year Air Force veteran committed adultery several times, photographed his exposed genitals while in uniform, and groped women on two occasions.

The Air Force did not immediately grant a request by The Associated Press to speak with Caughey or his attorney, and a spokesman at Peterson said the military will not answer questions about the case.

"To protect the rights of Col. Caughey and the integrity of ongoing legal proceedings, no other information about the case will be released at this time," Capt. William Russell wrote in an email to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Caughey and his lawyers told the AP through the Air Force that they did not want to comment.

Caughey was formerly second in charge of the 50th Space Wing at Schriever. The unit oversees navigation and communication satellites.

The Gazette reports he was an up-and-coming space officer whose responsibilities had included running a 22-nation missile defense wargame in 2014 for U.S. Strategic Command.

He is a survivor of the Sept. 11 terror attack on the Pentagon, according to a story on the Schriever Air Force Base website.

"I was a captain inside the Pentagon that morning when a plane crashed into the west side of the building," Caughey wrote on the website.

Caughey is scheduled for a March 17 hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a court-martial.